Rosenberg: Baker is doing ‘some really great stuff’

Senate President Stanley Rosenberg speaks with reporters outside his State House office in October. (State House News Service photo)

One of Beacon Hill’s top Democrats rained praise on Republican Gov. Charlie Baker over the weekend, and offered a contrast between Baker and his predecessor, Democrat Deval Patrick.

“I like working with Governor Baker,” Senate President Stanley Rosenberg told WBZ political analyst Jon Keller in an interview televised Sunday morning. “He’s a hands-on guy. He’s strong on management and that’s a lot of the problems that we’ve been dealing with in this first year of his governorship and my first year as Senate president.”

Baker is “doing some really great stuff” at the MBTA and the Department of Children and Families, as well as with technology projects, said Rosenberg. “It’s really a pleasure working with him. He digs into the details, sets a direction and then lets his executive team move things along,” Rosenberg said.

During Patrick’s eight years as governor, Rosenberg served as majority leader and also as Senate president pro tempore.

“I didn’t have as much contact with Governor Patrick as I would have liked,” Rosenberg told Keller after Keller noted a Boston Globe poll that showed 43 percent of respondents believed Baker is a better governor than Patrick with only 24 percent preferring Patrick over Baker.